6.8: Identifying Bias

Identifying bias is crucial for evaluating the source's reliability and objectivity. In western academia, research authors are supposed to present information in an unbiased and objective way that is purely intended to inform people. Bias can skew the presentation and interpretation of facts, leading to misinformation and a distorted understanding of a topic. It's important to note that everyone has some degree of bias and it can be very difficult to ensure that bias does not affect our writing and research at all. All sources are likely to be biased in some way. However, professional researchers and academics study to minimize the impact of bias on their research. When evaluating sources, you have to judge whether or not a source is too biased to be useful.

Types of Bias

There are six main types of bias to look out for:

• Confirmation Bias: The tendency to seek out information that agrees with or reaffirms your existing ideas and beliefs. For example, someone who believes in capital punishment performing searches like "benefits of capital punishment". The search itself is designed to produce confirming results.
• Funding Bias: When a scientific study is funded by a group that supports a specific outcome for the research. For example, if a study on the effects of drinking soda was paid for by the Coca-Cola Corporation.
• Observer Bias: The tendency of research participants to see what they expect or want to see. For example, if someone who is sexist is observing women's behavior, that might skew how they perceive it.
• Publication Bias: When certain types of studies are published over others. For example, when racial bias leads to publishers approving more white-authored papers than those from people of color.
• Recall Bias: When people are asked to recall events in the past and they fail to do so accurately.
• Selection Bias: When a researcher sets up an experiment and chooses samples or groups that aren't representative of the population they are studying. For example, if a researcher is investigating the effects of a drug on the general population but does not include many women in the study.

Some of these sources of bias might come up in the research process while others might come up during the writing of a paper or other information source. This is one reason why it is important to review the methods used in a research study. Unless you take a look at how they conducted their research, you sometimes cannot identify if there was a biased or flawed process involved.

Bias Clues

The following are clues that indicate potential bias.

• Opinions
• Data or evidence provided without a referenced source
• A non-neutral tone of voice in the writing
• Sources that only present a single point-of-view
• Lacking information about the author(s)
• Funding from a source related to the topic
• Publication by an organization with a particular bias on the topic

The Scholarly Conversation

Another way to help combat bias is to review multiple sources of information. When it comes to academic research, each researcher, student, and publication is a part of an ongoing scholarly conversation. People don't put out just one paper on a topic and have that become the source of all information on it. Instead, when one person publishes an article about the topic other scholars will review their findings. They may even attempt to replicate their findings and then publish their own work as well. The back and forth of these articles and presentations creates an ongoing conversation. As a student, you can participate in this conversation by reviewing their works and identifying common trends in the literature. These trends can form a sort of consensus where multiple authors agree with each other.